I know it's still fresh but who would you consider the better coach? Just listening to the both of them talk you can tell they are very motivating. Shaq even said that Pat Riley is the best coach he's played for even though he won 3 with Phil.
Neither is anything special IMO. However I like P.Riley more now because he is more humble. Phil Jackson is an okay coach that just had the benefit of coaching GREAT players. As is P.Riley, but at least he will admit it.... I didnt vote because the both of them really arent that great IMO.
Ive always liked Riles. Players say he is the best motivator, hands down. The fact he has adapted to his players and won with varying styles is a positive for him. I think one could be better than the other depending on the players they had dealt to them.
They're both charismatic motivators, which is something JVG doesn't seem to be. We're not in the locker room tho so who knows.
Riley the coach can't be separated from Riley the GM/president. His pre-SVG years in Miami were horrible. Don't forget Juwan Howard's baggage was also one Riley's masterpieces. I used to have lot of admiration for Riley before I was fed up with the Heat/Knicks basketball, a good portion of which carried over to JVG unfortunately. The only redeeming act for Riley is the pick of Wade in the '03 draft, which saved his legacy.
Come on, wnes... Riles has always adapted to his talent. Van Gundy isn't, "carrying over," Riley's style. He carried over how Riley coached the talent he had in New York. Had Van Gundy been an assistant with Riley's Lakers, he would have learned a hell of a lot more that'd be useful to the Rockets today. I still have some hope for Jeff, based on what we saw when the light bulb finally went off in his head that he needed to open up the offense. With a healthy McGrady and Yao next season, hopefully a great draft, and some new good role players (please god), we should see something special. If we don't, adios Van Gundy. And congratulations to Pat Riley. He deserves this, and I'm damned glad his Heat won the title and beat the Mavs, along with that goofus, Cuban.
When JVG gets the talent that those guys had, he can focus just on motivating (because his players will take care of the x's and o's, and execution themselves). Right now, he's losing what's left of his hair by trying to teach guys to hit open jump shots, and trying to let guys know that they should NOT leave good 3 point shooters wide open. All you need to instill motivation is respect... and JVG has that from his main guys... he's always preached the "us against the world" tactic that Riley just used.,
Honestly I feel you (anyone) is foolish to believe what Shaq said...It's Shaq; every quote from him is a joke. There is NO REASON for Shaq to mention Jackson in his post-Laker days, but they're still great friends. There's no question in my mind that Jackson was a better coach for Shaq than Riley. I firmly believe that ths is all an inside joke between Shaq and Phil; there's just no reason to answer it that way (and no reason for ABC to even ask) Somewhere in Montana PJ's laughing.
Riles is a better coach. When Phil does what Riley did THIS year, with comparable talent, come back and talk to me. I always thought Riles was better. To me, he won the series with his coaching and motivation. Dallas is clearly the better TEAM. Coaching was the difference. If you listen to the post game celebration, players went out of their way to praise him and acknowledge how TWO WEEKS AGO, Riles told them they would be where they are now. The players love him to death. Thats a big difference in coaching. I wish we had a coach that players liked around here.
Don't worry... when the Rockets start winning again, everybody will jump back on that JVG bandwagon. The whole view on him took a complete 180 after the success he had last year, and the way he constantly stuck up for Yao... but unfortunately, the bad season (and worse personnel moves) got his image back to where it was post-2004.
Hey, Nick. What is your definition of winning? Playoffs seat, home court advantage, second round, WCF or Finals? What does JVG have to achieve to earn his next contract in Houston? If he fails at first round again, should he be fired? I am just interested in your answer.
I still think L.A. dominates Shaq's every thought. Last night he kept harping on the "best" this and the "best" that... to me it looked like he was just trying to insult Phil and Kobe as much as possible. Not that there's anything wrong with that mind you... BTW, both of these coaches are highly overrated in my opinion. They are both guys who are able to manage egos well, but both require a boatload of talent to win. Riley bailing on the team when it sucked, then coming back when it was loaded should tell you all you need to know.
